For the first time since 2004, Goodman Stadium hosted an FCS playoff game, packing 8,848 fans into the stands. But after four quarters, No. 5 Lehigh football’s season ended with a 14-7 loss to No. 12 Villanova University.
Lehigh entered the showcase undefeated at 12-0 with a 17-game regular-season win streak, the best rushing defense in the FCS and a home crowd that hadn’t given up since September. Yet Villanova, riding a nine-game win streak of its own, outlasted the Mountain Hawks in a costly matchup from fumbles and two late Wildcat touchdowns.
Sophomore quarterback Hayden Johnson threw for 161 yards, and running backs Luke Yoder and Aaron Crossley combined for 124 yards on the ground. Lehigh’s offense struggled to finish drives, and for the first time all season, two fumbles — the program’s first lost offensive fumbles of the year — decided the outcome.
Villanova’s graduate student quarterback Pat McQuaide threw for 208 yards, while graduate student wide receiver Luke Colella tallied 71 yards.
The first quarter was a stalemate, as neither team reached the endzone, and Lehigh’s early fake-field-goal attempt fell inches short when Crossley was tackled shy of the goal line that resulted in a turnover.
The second quarter brought more of the same: defensive stands, deep passes out of reach, and a halftime score of 0-0 that held tension in the air inside Goodman Stadium.
Lehigh received the ball at the start of the second half and came out swinging.
Johnson passed deep to the left for 36 yards to sophomore wide receiver Matt D’Avino to advance to the Villanova 39-yard line. Yoder broke loose for 31 yards, and Crossley took control once more, rushing five yards into the Villanova endzone to claim a Mountain Hawk lead that brought Goodman to its feet at 7-0.
“I’m just focusing on the same thing every week, just week in, week out,” Crossley said. “There’s no set carries, no set receptions, no set anything, just whatever happens, happens.”
But the momentum didn’t last. On the next drive, Yoder fumbled after a hit, and Villanova’s junior defensive back Josh Oluremi recovered. Coach Kevin Cahill later said Yoder was playing through an injury.
With the fumble giving the Wildcats’ offense another chance, McQuaide passed deep to the right for 23 yards to first-year wide receiver Braden Reed, who caught it at the Lehigh 8-yard line.
Villanova capitalized on the moment as sophomore running back Ja’briel Mace rushed to the right into the endzone to tie the game 7-7.
“That’s uncharacteristic of us,” senior wide receiver Geoffrey Jamiel said. “We can’t afford to put the ball on the ground against a great team like that. Credit to them, they were causing turnovers.”
On the next possession, Johnson connected with Crossley down the left for 33 yards and a first down.
Yoder carried to the left for 16 yards, and Johnson followed with the next play, rushing down the middle.
“If anybody saw the injury (Yoder) had, they’d say ‘Wow, he played?’ That’s a love he had for his teammates,” Cahill said. “We’re not here without (Yoder)…and we’re not here without (Johnson), I’m saying that right now — he’s a true warrior.”
On the fourth down, Poole kicked for a 26-yard field goal attempt but was unable to pull it within the posts.
The Wildcats opened their possession with a 5-yard false start penalty by sophomore offensive lineman Kyle Fay to the Villanova 22-yard line.
Unable to find the endzone, Villanova attempted a 35-yard field goal by graduate student punter Jack Barnum, but missed wide to the left.
On the next drive, Johnson took the ball and rushed down the middle but was sacked for a loss of 10 yards by senior linebacker Shane Hartzell. This is Hartzell’s 21st career sack, placing him in Villanova’s top 10 of all time.
“I think (Villanova) just has great players,” Jamiel said. “They’re older guys, and I think the front seven was strong today, and they do a great job just getting the ball out.”
With the clock dwindling to under four minutes left in the game, McQuaide passed deep 28 yards to Reed into the endzone. Villanova took the lead, 14-7.
Hartzell sacked Johnson on Lehigh’s final possession, and the game closed in Villanova’s possession. With three timeouts each taken by both teams, the clock ran down for a Wildcat victory.
After the game, Cahill said this single result could not define the season.
“It’s obviously a disappointing finish to a tremendous season,” Cahill said. “We’re not going to be judged on this game; we refuse. A lot has changed in three years…our players were embarrassed to wear Lehigh football clothes around campus. Now you can’t get them to take them off.”
Senior linebacker Tyler Ochojski, one of the team’s defensive anchors, said the program has grown.
He said during his sophomore year he’d see maybe 10 people in the stands, but now, there’s a consistent Lehigh community they built from the ground up.
Cahill reflected on the past two weeks and how Lehigh prepared for the matchup as a family.
“I haven’t had a chance to enjoy this season yet — I tried to enjoy it last week, but you can’t because you’re looking forward to ‘Are we playing Villanova, playing that school in Cambridge?’” Cahill said. “There’s 92 football players at my house cooking burgers. And that’s the culture of our team. That’s the stuff that I’m proud of.”
Cahill, overcome with emotion, took a moment to collect himself.
With 18 seniors and one graduate student on the team this year, the loss means saying goodbye to Lehigh’s football field forever.
“The (12 wins) were awesome,” Cahill said. “But it’s the relationships with these guys. It’s the seniors. That’s what hurts, but I’m very proud, very proud.”
Ochojski paused and smiled when asked to talk about what the team means to him.
“How much time do you have?” Ochojski said. “Anytime you get the chance to rep the six letters, whether you’re in practice or walking around on campus, you represent really proudly with your head high knowing that you’re a Lehigh man.”
Villanova will compete against No. 4 Tarleton State University in Stephensville, Texas, on Dec. 13.
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